The Hicks & Healey Cornish single malt is the first whiskey made in the county for 300 years. Photograph: Hicks & Healey/PA

Cornwall has joined the ranks of whiskey-making regions with the first batch of the spirit made in the area for 300 years. At £150 for a half-litre bottle, the limited-edition Hicks & Healey Cornish single malt seven-year-old whiskey is perhaps beyond the reach of the average high-street drinker but has been rated by expert Jim Murray, author of the bestselling Whisky Bible, as "among the best debut bottlings of the last decade". The 61.3% alcohol brew that has gone on sale is produced jointly by the St Austell Brewery and Healey's Cyder Farm, better known for Cornish Rattler cider.